Dear Family and Friends!
Merry Christmas to all of you from College Station, Texas. As I had mentioned in my last newsletter, this year I was reassigned to our house that serves the students of Texas A&M and Blinn College. What a humbling blessing to be able to return and serve in a place where I received so much as a student. I have only been here a semester but, in good Texas fashion, I have been warmly welcomed and already feel so incredibly known and loved. It is truly a gift to call this place home.
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| My new house and new local community! |
In this newsletter you will be able to read a little about the important events that have happened this year and that are upcoming as well as hear a detailed story from my time here so far, receive a little heart sharing of mine, and learn how you can support me with your prayers for my intentions.
Important Events
- August: I moved from Rome, Italy to College Station, Texas and, after a week of family time, I officially started campus ministry here at St. Mary’s Catholic Center.
- September 2: We moved into our new house that St. Mary’s provided for us since we have a larger community here this year - 5 Sisters and a young woman in formation arriving in January!
- December: our community is spending its first ever Christmas in Texas!
- December 26 – January 2: I get to spend a week at home at the same time as my brother and his family
- January 5: the AVI Missionary Semester begins and a young woman will move closer to our community in order to continue her discernment. As Vocation Director I will be accompanying her in these coming months.
- January 7-10: the AVI Vocational Retreat will be happening in Kansas with the participation of 9 young women open to consecrated life and specifically knowing more about our community.
- January 11: Alexa, one of our young women in formation, moves into the Texas house for a semester long pastoral experience as part of her formation.
- February 10: I’m entering into a new decade as I turn 30 this year!
Story Time
On September 29th of this year, I experienced my first ever Eucharistic Procession on the campus of Texas A&M. In fact, it is only the second time that this has ever been done, and what an experience it was!
Just imagine: 700-800 students gathered in St. Mary’s main church as Jesus, present in the most Blessed Sacrament, is processed out by the priest (both preceded and followed by altar servers holding candles and creating a dignified space for our Lord to dwell in). Slowly, one-by-one, everyone filed out of the church onto the street headed towards North Gate where we would then cross University Drive (with the assistance of very kind police officers) onto campus. Alternating songs of praise with silence and the prayer of the rosary, the procession continued with both reverence and simplicity.
A part of the crowd, myself included, was dedicated to evangelization and had the joy of simply informing those on campus of what was happening. Each of us had a small stack of flyers that directed their recipients to a more detailed explanation of what we Catholics believe about the Eucharist on the St. Mary’s website.
I still remember the emotion I felt as I watched the procession depart from the church. I was strategically placed a little in front of it so that I could encounter those who would see it from afar. As the priest moved slowly and yet surely along the path mapped out for the procession, I couldn’t help but delight in the Lord’s desire to go out and encounter those who are not coming to meet Him in the Church. I also felt a surge of pride: this is my Bridegroom, the One to whom my whole heart belongs, and look at all of these people who want to walk with Him out on campus, who want to be recognized as His followers and counted among those who belong to Him.
I don’t have any conversion stories to share with you from that night but I did have many different encounters and conversations in which I was able to testify to the Lord’s presence in the Eucharist, share about all that is happening at St. Mary’s, and even pray with and for two young women who were struck by such an event. I can still see the faces of those I met that night, although I must admit to no longer be in contact with any of them. But I keep trusting that the Lord will use that encounter, perhaps just one of a whole string of encounters, to bring those young people closer to Him. I trust that it may be part of His plan to give to them the gift He came to give us all – the gift which deep down we all seek – “life and life to the full” (Jn 10:10).
Where is my heart?
As we enter into this Christmas season my heart is really resonating with the Psalmist as he sings: Let the Lord enter; He is the King of Glory (Ps 24). For me, this first semester doing campus ministry at St. Mary’s Catholic Center in College Station has been one of many firsts. I’ve encounter quite the learning curve! But it has also been a time filled with discovery, wonder, joy, and gratitude.
I say that I have experienced many firsts because that’s just the reality of things here in Aggieland. I know the place pretty well – I spent 5 years here back between 2011 and 2016 – but I’ve never lived here as a consecrated woman, I’ve never been involved in campus ministry here (if not but on the receiving end), and I’ve never lived with some of my sisters that I now share a home with. And as the psalmist invites me to “let the Lord enter” I can almost hear Jesus’s gentle voice: “yes, let Me enter; let Me live each moment with you; let me be a part of every decision, difficulty, joy…” It’s what my heart yearns for – to share life with the Lord – but it is also what I find myself often running away from. When that learning curve gets real steep I turn to myself, to my own strengths, and try to “figure things out” or “push through”. But the Lord doesn’t ask me to do anything alone, and He doesn’t even ask most of the things I ask of myself, namely perfection and worldly success. What He does ask of me is to do things with Him, to be in relationship with Him. If I do succeed, He wants us to succeed together, and if I don’t, He still wants to experience that with me.
And when new discoveries (about myself, the world, or the Lord) bring my heart to wonder, joy, and gratitude, I hear that Voice yet again whispering to me: “let Me enter; let Me dwell there with you; let’s marvel, rejoice, and give thanks together.” There have been some mornings in which I’ve woken up with a smile almost unable to believe that this is my life, that this is what I get to do every day (i.e. serve in campus ministry as an Apostle of the Interior Life at St. Mary’s Catholic Center). And there have been evenings in which I’ve looked back over my day with sheer happiness thinking to myself “what a great day!” These are always beautiful moments but they even become more beautiful when that smile becomes a gift, that thought becomes a conversation, that reflection becomes a prayer. When the everyday events of our lives become places of encounter with the Lord, it is then that we are letting the Lord enter; we are allowing the King of Glory to reign in our hearts.
This is where my heart is. It’s in a good place, a warm and cozy place, but it’s also being called into new places, into a new deepening, into a more intimate encounter. It is being called to “let the Lord enter” with trust and love for Him who “is the King of Glory”.
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| Singing at St. Mary's |
Prayer Intentions
- AVI Vocational Retreat: please keep the 9 participants and our team of 4 Apostles in your prayers as we prepare for this event. May it be a blessed experience for these young women in discernment.
- AVI Missionary Semester: please pray for this young woman and her discernment as well as for me and my accompaniment of her throughout the journey.
- The young women in formation: please continue to pray for Alexa, Kate, Liz, and Laurita as they continue their years of formation seeking to learn more about themselves, the community, and God’s will for their lives.
- In a special way please pray for Alexa as she moves into our house here in Texas this January in order to live a semester long pastoral experience as part of her formation.
- Please continue to pray for my family: my parents (Robert and Margaret), my brother and sister-in-law (Brandon and Jen) and their two kids (Shepherd and Emma Kate) – may they all, especially the little ones, continue to grow, stay healthy, and know more and more deeply God’s personal love for each of them.
United always in Him,
Sr. Cherise
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